The toxic effects of three individual petroleum hydrocarbons - benzene (aromatic), cyclohexane (alicyclic) and hexane (aliphatic) - on different species and life stages of marine invertebrates were investigated. For the larval stages, the trochophore larvae of the tubicolous polychaete Pomatoceros triqueter were found to have the lowest tolerance. It was seen that these compounds depress the ability of sperm to fertilize eggs and cause damage to the cytoplasm and cell membrane of both fertilized and unfertilized eggs. Sperm are less sensitive than eggs. The effects were directly correlated with the concentration applied. The resistance of these developmental stages to the effects of hydrocarbons increases with advancing age, so that adult worms are more resistant than 7-day old trochophore larvae, while developing trochospheres are the most sensitive stages. Low concentrations of toxicants had little effect on growth rates. Hexane seems less toxic, while there was no significant difference between the toxicity of benzene and that of cyclohexane.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:637409 |
| Date | January 1983 |
| Creators | Jaweir, H. J. |
| Publisher | Swansea University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds